The Innocence of Children
by MRS.waitforit.STARK
Summary: Children are innocent, and Rosalie and Emmett are learning new things each day. Things keep popping up and suddenly, life doesn’t look so easy any more. Lily and Mattie are teaching their parent’s some new tricks. AH .:Sequel to PNN:.
1. Starting the Day

**The Innocence of Children**

A/N – So, here I am, bored out of my mind on a rainy Thursday, and I sit and read PNN. Now, I want to try a sequel...again. This one will be totally different then, well, my first attempt. All though some of the information will be the same.

Summary – Children are innocent, and Rosalie and Emmett are learning new things each day. Things keep popping up and suddenly, life doesn't look so easy any more. Lily and Mattie are teaching their parent's some new tricks.

Random point of interest – This chapter was written while I drank Peach Tea.

Disclaimer — Bite me, I don't own Twilight.

______________________________________________________________________________

**1. Starting the Day**

**Life is a race. The people bringing up the rear are the ones with families while the people in the front are the ones with riches.**

_**Megan Geyer ( Yes, I made this quote up)**_

**Rosalie's POV**

_Beep, beep, beep. _I groaned and rolled over. Just another Monday. I slammed my fist into the alarm clock, bathing us in silence. I felt Emmett roll over and put an arm over my stomach.

"Are you awake?" he mumbled. It sounded like, "Are mu awake?"

I sighed, "I guess."

"You know, we have to get up." He said, his breath hot in my ear.

"I'll get up if you get up." I grinned.

"Fine." He huffed. I grinned again, pushed the covers out of the way and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I walked across the floor to our bathroom. I yanked my hair out of the ponytail and hopped into the shower stall. The water felt so good, but I had to pull myself out for work. When I walked back in the bedroom, Emmett was dressed for work.

"You know, I hate mornings." he said, yawning.

"No you don't." I pecked him on the lips, "Go make breakfast."

"Pancakes?"

"Sure." I padded across the hallway into Lily's room. I flicked the light on in her princess style room. The four year old was curled under the blankets. "Come on , Lily. Time to get up." she fought and whined, but eventually, I had her standing up and fully dressed.

"Where's Daddy?" she asked.

"Downstairs. He's making pancakes!" Lily's face brightened up and she ran out of her room. I walked next door and repeated the process with Mattie. "Mattie! Daddy's making pancakes!"

He screamed at me. So I dragged him out of the bed and dressed him. Then he dragged me downstairs to the kitchen. Lily was already eating. There was a plate with Mattie's name on it. No, literally, in daycare, they made place mates as a project on Craft Day.

"Lily, use a napkin, not your pants." I poured apple juice for them and sat down myself. I was about to eat when Mattie threw food at Lily.

"Don't!!" Lily screeched.

"Mattie, knock it off!" Emmett said.

"No!" Mattie countered.

"Mattie, don't throw food. Do I need to take away a toy?" I said, wiping off his sticky fingers. That's our discipline. You want to knock it? Go ahead. All I know is that its very effective. They do something wrong, I take away a toy. It works, because they are very protective over their dolls and cars.

"No." he said. He ate more pancakes.

"What are we gonna do with him?" I asked Emmett.

"Send him to military camp." Emmett said.

"Ha. He's four." I smacked his knee. He smiled innocently.

After breakfast, I did the dishes, Emmett left, and the kids watched morning cartoons. I sighed to myself. I know what your thinking, right? We are the perfect family. Steady jobs, the perfect kids, big house, great family. To any outsider we are the ideal family.

I rinsed the last plate off and set it in the strainer. "Ok, kids, time to go!" I shouted. "Come on, get your shoes on, coats, backpacks. Lily, did you want to bring One-Eye?" One-Eye is a cocker spaniel stuffed puppy. Emmett won it for Lily at the fair. Two days later, Mattie tore one of the dogs eyes off. Lily appropriately named him One-Eye.

"Yeah!" Lily said.

"Alright, Mattie, come here, we gotta tie your shoes. Lily, where's your coat?" I tied both of Mattie's shoes and continued to tie Lily's.

"I don't wanna go!" Mattie said as I tired to buckle him in his car seat.

"Come on, Mattie. We're gonna go visit Aunty Alice. Don't you wanna visit Alice, and see Kimberla, and Darren, what about Elijah?" Alice had started a daycare center. She loves her job, and she has two helpers, because she was the only daycare in Forks! She has a lot of clients! Elijah is Edward and Bella's son, Darren was one of Mattie's friends. You know who Kimberla is!

Elijah only can crawl, he can't even talk. But, Mattie adores him, he calls Elijah his "Baby"! "No! No! NO! I wanna stay home!" Mattie screeched.

"Come on, Mattie. Darren will miss you! And Jessica and Angela!" he calmed down enough to where I could strap him in. "Now, if Alice tells me you behaved, we can get McDonalds or Pizza for supper."

Jessica got married to Mike, had a kid, sobered up, and stopped talking to Lauren. In that order. Her little boy, Caleb Newton, is a menace. He was at Mattie's fourth birthday and he ate two piece's of cake before the cake was even served. I guess Jessica considers herself the perfect little mommy now.

"Yeah!" they said. I shut the door. Angela had married Ben, they now live in Forks. They said something about not being able to leave the place they love. Cynthia finished Med school and is now an intern, as a matter of fact, she's Carlisle's Intern! Cynthia is still with Jacob. They are serious, but not ready for marriage.

So, everyone's happy, right? Right?

"E I E I O!!" Mattie yelled, "AND ON THE FARM, THERE'S A KITTY! E I E I O!"

"Mattie, inside voices, please."

"Kay! With a meow, meow there! And a meow, meow here! There's a meow! Another meow! Everywhere a meow, meow! E I E I O!" he finished.

We pulled up to the building. "Little Tiggers Daycare!" They had built their own building to have the daycare in. I turned the car off and pushed the door open. I grabbed Lily and Mattie held on to my hand as we made our way in. Alice opened the door, her usual perky self bouncy around.

"Hi, guys!" she said. Lily and Mattie took turns hugging her, then they ran off to reek havoc on the Daycare.

"Alright, Bye guys!" They came racing over to hug me, then I left. Bella and I work at a publishing company on the newspaper in Seattle. She love's her job and I love mine. While she goes out and writes the stories, I sit in a fancy office and edit the final drafts. Jasper and Edward went into medical. Edward is a resident, like Carlisle. Jasper is a children's psychologist. He deals with screwed up kids. Emmett ended up going into law enforcement. Charlie retired and Emmett ended up replacing the guy who promoted into Charlie's old spot. Whatever, it pays. He enjoys his work. His children enjoy flipping the lights on in his cop car.

So, we're all happy.

Work was long, tedious, and I wanted to shoot myself. The final edit's were heading over to the printing house today, and they'd be sitting on our porches in two days. Hurrah. Although, I get to get my kids.

I drove to Alice's Daycare, following behind Bella. I dialed speed dial number 2.

"Hey, Emmett." I said, balancing the phone between my shoulder and my ear.

"Hey, Sweetheart." he said. He was driving too.

"I'm gonna pick up Supper, okay?" I said, "So, don't worry about cooking."

"Mmkay. Sounds good, I'll talk to you when you get home. Love you." he said.

"Kay. Bye, love you too!" I hung up. I big smile stretched across my face as I stopped at Little Tiggers Daycare.

"Mommy!" Lily said. She ran up and hug me. Followed by Mattie.

"Okay. Don't crush me." I said, laughing. "You guys got everything?" I asked.

"Hi!" Alice said, she was carrying Kimberla.

"Hi, Kimber! Hi Alice." I said.

"I took the liberty of tying their shoes for you. One-Eye is in Lily's backpack, and there coats are in their cubbies." Alice said. Bella zipped up Elijah's baby blue coat.

"Hi Elijah." I said.

"That's my baby!" Mattie said. We laughed.

We stood around talking, but Elijah got impatient, Mattie and Lily were having a contest to see who could grab my attention, and Kimberla was playing with Alice's Blackberry.

"Ok, Bye!" I said, Bella pulled out, and I waved.

"Bye!" Alice called. "Kimberla, don't press that!" I laughed to myself.

"RACE YA!" Lily declared. Mattie and Lily raced towards the car, running.

"Careful!" I called. I strapped them in their car seats while they argued over who won. Mattie claims he won, Lily says it was a tie. "Okay guys," I said as we pulled into town. "Let's put it to a vote, Pizza or McDonalds?"

"What kind of pizza?" Lily asked.

"Godfathers." I said, "Any kind of topping you want."

"Pizza!" Mattie declared.

"Lily?"

"Pizza." And so we went to Godfathers and got sausage and cheese. When we got home, we sat down in the living room with our pizza slices.

"Okay, we have _Bedtime Stories, Bee Movie,_ and_ Bolt. _Your pick!" Emmett said. That was a mistake. Instantly, the kids got into a heated argument about the movies. The fight ended with Lily crying and Mattie stomping his feet.

"If you don't agree on something, I'll pick the movie!" I warned. In the end, we watched _Bedtime Stories. _The ending credits started rolling around eight o'clock.

"Alright, Daddy's gonna give you a bath and I'm gonna get ice cream sundae's ready." Their faces lit up and they raced up the stairs.

"No! Lily, I'm gonna make mine firstest! You can't, DADDY!"

Emmett lingered at the bottom of the stairs. "These kids are gonna kill me!" I joked.

"We should have ten more!" Emmett joked back.

"Okay. You can give birth to five and _I _can give birth to five. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, yeah. Your hilarious."

"Thank you. Now go supervise that before Mattie drowns Lily." I laughed as he jogged up the stairs. It wasn't long before there was four bowls of vanilla ice cream on the table with various syrups and sprinkles.

It was part of this little thing called family time. Once a week, the whole family get's together in one of our houses, we take turns, and has dinner together. Usually, someone's in tears by the end, mainly pointing at Elijah. And, me and Emmett try to do things with the kids every night, wether it's a movie or a slumber party in the living room or a trip to the zoo.

I could tell the kids were getting sleepy by the time they were half way into their bowls. The phone rang, jolting Lily awake. I glanced at the caller ID. Bella.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Rose. So, I just got called by Esme and she says that dinner this Saturday at her house would work with everyone's schedule."

"You make us sound like a bunch of factory workers, 'let's get right on schedule!' or something, and not a family." I reprimanded. Emmett looked up. _"Who is it?"_ he mouthed.

"_Bella."_ I mouthed back. He grinned.

"Rose, be serious. You know its getting harder and harder to get together. Soon we'll be one of those families who'll only get together on Christmas and Easter and Birthdays."

"Bella," I chastised, "We live in a town of about three thousand some odd people. We _all_ do. It' not like Alice lives in Alaska and you live in Olympia and I live in Montana."

"Mommy, where's Montana?" Lily asked.

"Hold on a second, honey." I answered.

"Yeah, well, all I know is that my house looks like three tornadoes went through it, I have laundry up to my neck and, hell, sometimes I lose Elijah in the living room."

"Where's Edward in all of this?"

"Working nights again. He's got the ER and there's been, like, three car accidents in the past two days. Not including the cars involved."

"How much has he lost?"

"A three year old died in the first one and the other ones weren't that bad, just cuts and scrapes and yeah. You should have seen him after the three year old. He looked Eli in the eye and said, 'Son, never take off your seatbelt. Ever.'"

We laughed. "And what did Elijah think of that?" I laughed.

"He pulled Edward's nose. I was like, 'Well. That worked.' It was comical."

"Yeah, well, I'll let ya go. I've got twins falling asleep at their ice cream."

"Alright, see you tomorrow." We hung up.

"You grab Mattie and I get Lily, she's lighter." I teased. Emmett stuck his tongue out at me. After wiping the sticky off their fingers and carrying them upstairs, we collapsed onto the bed.

"Another day, another family moment, right?" Emmett said.

"Yeah, sure. Can you believe they're four? It seems so....so long. It's just four years.... but."

"I know."

I waited. This was a big question I was about to ask, and the last thing I wanted was to blow it. How would he feel? He was such a good dad, and he loved his children, but.... I'll never know until I ask him. I'll just have to ask.

"Em. How do you feel about more kids."

He rolled over and looked at me. "Are you sure?"

"Em, we've been married two years and have two four year olds. How does that work?"

"We were irresponsible and drunk then happened to fall in love." I grinned at his response. "Now, about kids, I would love to have more. But. Are you sure that now is the right time."

I got up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door. I striped down and changed into a pair of his boxers and a loose t shirt that smelled like him. "Em," I started, leaving the bathroom. "When we conceived the twin, it wasn't the right time or even place. So, lets stick to going with the flow."

He laughed. "Do you have any idea how crazy you drive me when you were my clothes?"

"I've got a good idea." I bounced on the bed.

"Well, then. I hear by dedicate this night to baby making." Emmett stated.

I burst out laughing. "You are so strange sometimes."

"And that's what makes me lovable. Normal people tick me off." He grinned.

I yanked the shirt over my head, revealing my entire upper body to be naked.. "Sitting here talking about normal people isn't making a kid any faster."

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N – The song I'm listening to right now is about being drunk and doing stupid things. Make sense? Lol.

And now the song changed.

Anyhoo, as my second attempt at this, I believe this story will be better. So, there's no dying little kids in this one....yet. Well, the three year old died in the car accident but that's irrelevant.

I will have drama in the future. This one is basically about....normal family life with a hidden drama. :P it works.


	2. Thank God its Friday

**The Innocence of Children**

A/N – Alright! Baby making nights. Lol! **No lemons.** Sorry guys. Lol!

Summary – Children are innocent, and Rosalie and Emmett are learning new things each day. Things keep popping up and suddenly, life doesn't look so easy any more. Lily and Mattie are teaching their parent's some new tricks.

Random point of interest – This chapter was written on a Friday and the start of the chapter takes place on a Friday.

Disclaimer — Bite me, I don't own Twilight.

______________________________________________________________________________

**2. Thank God it's Friday**

_Not for nothing is their motto TGIF - 'Thank God It's Friday.' They live for the weekends, when they can go do what they really want to do._

**Richard Nelson Bolles**

Rosalie's POV

I was jittery the next day. Very fidgety. I was walking through Wal - Mart, but not by choice. Crayons, where the hell is the crayons? I hate it when Wal - Mart decides to switch all its cheap plastic crap around. I need crayons! Oh, they're right there.

"Mattie, you can pick out a pack of crayons. Lily, you too."

"Okay. Can... Can I get a toy?" Mattie asked.

"Let's see if you're a good boy."

Yup. The dreaded school shopping. It's nearing the end of August and Mattie and Lily are going to pre-school wether they like it or not. Luckily, Pre-school doesn't require a bunch of stuff. It's called, sharing.

"Okay, let's go to the backpacks." I pushed that cart over to the purse and bags or whatever you want to call it.

"I want Spongebob!" Mattie shouted.

"Indoor voices." I said.

"Yeah, indoor voices, Mattie." Lily sassed.

"You tell 'em Lil." I said. Mattie stuck his tongue out.

We checked out after that, with Lily having a new doll and Mattie, a new hot wheels car. I spoil my kids, and I don't exactly feel bad about it. The checkout lady smiled warmly. "School shopping?"

"Yeah. Pre-school, for both of them." I smiled. She scanned two jugs of milk.

"Oh. They're very cute. Are they twins?" She scanned the new doll. I started to put the bags away.

"Yes. Four year old twins. It proves that they aren't easy." She laughed with me.

"Your total is $137.23." Crayons definitely aren't cheap anymore.

Tomorrow is family time. With all things considering, tomorrow would be a fun day to go to the zoo before we visit 'grandma'. While loading the car, I couldn't help but wonder if I was even pregnant. It'd be too early to find out. But, I can't wait.

I sat down in the seat and put the keys in the ignition and turned around. "Okie Dokie, who wants to go to the zoo tomorrow?"

"Me! Me! I do!" both kids chorused.

"Die boom, boom, boom!" Mattie shouted, playing with his new car. Funny how kids pick up on the whole 'die' thing so fast. One minute, it's lullabies. The next minute, its Star Wars and Power Rangers and weapons.

"Alright but you have to help me convince daddy."

"Okay!" They chorused. It was starting to freak me out how they always got that right.

" Boom! Lily, I killed your baby."

"No you didn't!" Lily shouted. "Baily isn't dead. You didn't kill her!"

"Yes, I did. You're baby is bleeeeding." He dragged out the E, making the word 6 syllables too long.

"Mama! Tell him to stop!" Lily started crying.

"Mattie, that's enough. Find something...else to....shoot."

The rest of the car ride was silent, aside from the occasional 'boom' from Mattie and the occasional yawn from Lily.

All I can say is, thank God it's Friday.

I pulled into the driveway. I have always wanted a Victorian house. Big and pretty. So, we built one. End of story. The house stood tall and proud, one of the only Victorian in Forks. The house was blue and white. The tower, which was three stories tall, was my favorite part.

"Alright, suckers, I bought you a new toy and you have to grab a bag." They instantly started complaining. "No. Nope, you have to grab a bag."

You can imagine how cute it is. Little kids hiking up the pathway to our front door carrying bags almost too big for them. I love kids.

I grabbed the final bags and slammed the back of the SUV. I opened the door and let them in. "Hut two, fwee, four!" Mattie ordered as we walked into the kitchen. Our kitchen was modern. I sat the bags on the island and bent down to Lily's level.

"Go pick out a movie for nap time." I told her.

"Momma, I don't wanna cake a nap." she whispered.

I smiled when she said 'cake' instead of take. "Lily, you were yawning the whole way home." She shook her head.

"That was Baily!" She held up the new dolly. "Baily's weally sleepy."

"Well, then you and Baily can watch a movie together on my big comfy bed." She thought about this for awhile, then nodded.

Lily had a movie picked out by the time I had scolded Mattie for opening the cookies, put the milk away, hid the crayons and other things for school, and started a load of laundry. It takes that long for a four year old to narrow down the choices.

"Momma! Can we watch Barbie Princess?" Lily held up the case, featuring an animated Barbie in a poofy pink dress. "Please, please, please!" Lily begged.

"I don't think Mattie would agree with that." Mattie appeared, driving the new car on the wall.

"Vroom! No Barbie stuff, Lily. Barbie's stupid." Mattie declared.

Lily's lower lip trembled, then she started shouting. "No, Cars is stupid! I hate you!"

"Alright, I guess Mommy get's to pick the movie. I'm gonna pick a boring and long documentary!" I said, smiling.

"No! No!" the kids started shouting.

"Alright! Alright then, you better agree on something!" I said, interrupting their opposing shrieks.

"Uuuuum. _Bolt_?" Lily questioned.

"Yeah! Bolt is so awsome! He has laser vision! He just goes boom, boom, boom and those bad guys go running." Mattie declared.

"Alright then. Bolt it is! Now, get your patooties upstairs before the tickle monster gets you! Rawr! Rawr!" Lily screamed and they started running up the stairs. I picked Lily up and tossed her own mine and Emmett's bed. She giggled and I put the DVD in. We didn't get to far into the movie and I had two sleeping four year old's on my shoulders. I let my eyes close.

______________________________________________________________________________

I jolted awake. Both the kids weren't on my shoulder. I panicked. "Lily!? Mattie?" I called, scrambling to get untangled from the sheets.

"Momma! Your awake!" Lily said as I walked down the stairs.

"Where's Mattie?" I questioned.

"In da toy room." Lily said. I breathed a sigh of relief, turning the corner, I opened the door leading to the toy room. He was playing with the huge race car track he'd gotten for Christmas. I smiled when he didn't notice I was their, too caught up in his toy.

"Alright, C'mon Lil. You can help me with supper." She followed me into the kitchen. "What should we have for supper? Hamburgers?"

"Yeah." Lily nodded.

"Mmmkay." I took out two pounds of hamburger and set it on a plate to thaw. "Should we make cookies while the hamburgers thaw?"

"Yay! But Momma, daddy will eat dem all." Lily frowned.

"No he won't. We can hide them." I whispered, winking. She giggled.

"Okay!" I got out all the ingredients. We usually have dinner by six, seven at the latest. It was around three thirty and nap time started around one o'clock. Why I'm telling you this, I really don't know.

Emmett gets home at five, five thirty. This gives us plenty of time. "Alright, Lil. Two eggs. Can you crack them?"

Lily was kneeling at a big mixing bowl on the table and her sleeves were pushed up. "No." I showed her how to crack the first egg and put it in, then I handed her the second egg and let her crack it. She was hesitant, but brought the egg down with the right force and she also managed to not spill goo all over.

"Good job!" I declared and she smiled up at me.

It's little moments like these that are simply the best. I love spending time with my kids and having every Friday off helps. We had the cookies in by four o'clock, and when I started the cookies, Lily ran off to play with her dollies. I smiled to myself.

Setting the time at 17 minutes, I walked into the toy room. "What're you kiddies doing?" I said.

"Watch this, Momma!" Mattie declared. He had a car lined up and the track was a loop-de-loop and a jump at the end. He pressed a button and the car sped forward and went upside down and jumped the jump, landing in a bin by my feet.

"Cool!" I declared.. Mattie grabbed a new car and lined it up. In the corner of the room where various different cribs and one of those cool miniature kitchens was Lily, feeding her new doll. "Hey, Lil. What's Baily up to?"

"She's very hungry. Then she's sleepy." Lily told me. I nodded, smiling. "How are the cookies?"

"There in the oven." I sat on the floor, grabbing my own doll.

"That's Christie Mae. When's daddy coming home?"

"Soon." I said, picking up a brush to pull through Christie Mae's hair. I like that name. Christie Mae Sarah Cullen. Christie Mae Alice Cullen? Oh, yeah. Time to bring up the 'how would you like a little sister or brother?' talk.

"Hey, guys? How would you like a new little brother or sister?" I asked.

"I want a brother! We can name him Leonardo, like the Mutant ninja turtle!" Mattie declared. "Hi ya!" He shouted, karate chopping the giant stuffed teddy bear.

"I want a sister to play dollies with." Lily smiled. "We can name her Thumbalina." She set the doll in the crib and picked up a new doll. "This one is Barbie. I love her almost as much as Baily."

I grinned. "I'm gonna check the cookies."

"Cookies!" Mattie shouted. He ran over to me and bounced. "I wanna have a cookies!" Mattie shouted.

"They aren't done yet, silly goose." I said tickling him.

He laughed hysterically, begging me to stop. I laughed at his expression when I stopped. "Alright, go back to playing. I'll be back in a second."

I was glad to see that both of the twins wanted a sibling. It was much easier that way. The cookies were finished, so I put them on the cooling rack and set the second cookie sheet on the oven rack.

I leaned on the counter and stared at the floor. If I am pregnant, which I hope I am, this will put us at a five person family and I'm only 26! What if I have multiples again? Oh gee. A rush of pure panic went down my spin, lingering in my stomach. Then, hope rushed through. The more the merrier, right? The door opened and in walked Emmett in his uniform. The gun belt went away then he walked in the kitchen.

"Cookies? Your gonna make me fat." He grinned.

"You have a high metabolism. Don't worry about it." He chuckled. "Hey, kiss the cook." I pouted. He kissed me right as the twins trooped in.

"Ewww." Mattie said, his nose wrinkled. Emmett started laughing against my lips. He broke away and opened his arms for a hug. They ran over and hugged him. "Daddy! Guess what? I made the car jump twenty feet and into a bucket!" Mattie shouted, over exaggerating the distance.

"That's great, buddy. How about you, princess?" Emmett kissed her forehead.

"I got a new dolly, her name is Baily. She's taking a nap." Lily frowned. "I think she woke up."

Both the kids scurried away. "A new dolly?" Emmett asked, placing his hands on my hips.

"I like spoiling them." I whispered.

He grinned, "I like spoiling you." he kissed me.

"Mm." I moaned. I turned away from him and to the meat I had to get ready for the grill. "So, I talked to the kids about siblings."

"And?"

"They are over-excited. If it's a boy, apparently were naming him Leonardo."

"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?"

"The very same. And if it's a girl, her name will be Thumbalina. Can't say which is worse." he laughed. "Say, why don't you go shower and then get the grill ready. Hamburgers and fries tonight."

"Sounds good." He kissed me before walking away. I stood there for a second, wondering how I could have gotten so lucky. Such a family guy. Absolutely perfect. And, he has no problem's with my family and I have none with his. It's almost like we're soulmates or something. I snorted. "I sound like Alice when she's high on pixie sticks." I muttered to myself.

The timer beeped, bringing me out of my reverie. I pulled the cookies out and let them cool while I consulted the kiddies on wether we are having fries or tator tots.

"Tator tots!" they shouted together.

I had just closed the oven door when Emmett walked in, his hair wet and in jeans and a t-shirt. I nearly swooned when I saw him. "Hamburgers are ready. Go get the grill up and going." I grinned at him.

"Kay." He said in a high pitched voice.

"Shut up, you doofus." I grinned.

It took a bit to cook it up but supper was one the table by six o'clock. We were eating when Mattie brought up the subject of the zoo. "Daddy, Momma said that we could see the fishies at the zoo before we go to Grandma's house."

"She did?" Emmett asked, glancing at me.

"I thought it'd be a fun thing to do. We can pack a picnic lunch and we'll leave about four o'clock and stop by home to put away what's left of food and be at Grandma's by five for supper." I said logically.

"Well, I don't know about you, Mister Ketchup- Face, but I want to see the bat cave and the snakes." Emmett grinned.

"Does this mean we're going?" Lily said, bouncing. She reminded me of Alice often, with her hyper attitude and enthusiasm.

"Yes it does." Emmett declared.

Tomorrow can't come fast enough.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Daddy, see the fishy?" Lily said. She had old and faithful One-eye under her arm. We had tried to convince her to let One-eye stay home, and that only ended in tears. Same thing when we told her to leave it in the car.

"Yup." we were in the huge tank with the tunnel underneath it that people can walk in. "See the shark coming?" Emmett pointed it out. It was swimming at Lily's eyesight level. She made a noise when it passed and hid behind Emmett's leg.

Mattie was giggling like mad. "Look at it go!"

"Daddy, the shark is scary."

We had seen all the dry animals, gone through the snake and bat caves, we had seen the birds and the rodents. We had eaten our picnic lunch. Now, we were seeing the Aquatic animals and the dolphin show and then it was back home.

Mattie grabbed my hand as we walked down the rest of the tunnel. "Momma are we seeing the dolphin show now?"

I looked at Emmett, who was carrying Lily. He nodded.

"Yup. Let's go, kiddies." The show was, well a dolphin show. They jumped and did tricks and entertained the kids. Lily fell asleep on the way home and Mattie was quiet.

We swung by home and put the remainders of the food away, then got back on the road. When we got on the winding road leading to the Cullen house, I shook Lily's knee. "C'mon, Lil. We're at Grandma's"

She opened her eyes and yawned. "Is Kimberla there?" Lily asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, she beat us."

"Darnit. Aunt Alice is always before us." Mattie said.

I smiled, knowing how true this was. My buddy is always a bit faster then everyone else. I carried Lil in and Emmett had Mattie. The second we opened the door, we were bombarded with a buzzing three year old.

"You're here! You're here! Ganma! They're here!"

"Hi Kimber." I said, setting down Lily. The two girls ran off giggling. Esme and Alice walked in, of course bringing the scent of food with them. We exchanged hugs before the twins attacked Esme and nearly knocked her over. I walked into the kitchen.

"How have you been dears?" Esme asked.

"Great. We got preschool shopping done yesterday and went to the zoo today. The kids loved seeing all the animals and Lily wasn't fond of the sharks and snakes, neither was I."

"Oh, I hate snakes. " Alice said, grinning.

"I know." Esme shuddered.

"I'm not happy. The only thing worse then running a daycare is running a daycare when you have your period. Yuck. Cramps and screaming four year olds." Alice frowned. " I'm due Monday!" she wailed.

"I feel for you." I started. "Hopefully not my screaming three year olds. All things considering, I hope to God mine doesn't come."

"Trying to conceive again?" Esme asked, smiling.

"Trying, attempting, having unprotected sex, you pick." I grinned. Alice squealed and hugged me.

"Yay! More kids! Jazz says that he wants to wait awhile." Alice pouted. "It's been three years!"

We laughed. "Aunt Bella's here!" Mattie screamed. We moved out to the living room to greet them. Mattie was bouncing in happiness. Bella yanked the ties on Elijah's rain hat and took her shoes off at the same time. Edward held her hips.

"Don't multi-task, you'll hurt yourself." Edward said.

"Hi, guys! And, for your information, Edward, I can too multi-task, when I put my mind to it." I laughed and hugged her.

"Hi EJ." I cooed. He held his arms out to me and Bella passed him off so she could take her coat off. "How are you, mister? How are you?" Yeah, I know. I'm a sucker for babies. Elijah was giggling, he had always been a happy baby. Which was relief to Bella and Edward, who were hesitant at kids after seeing the rings under my eyes with twins and Alice in the hospital out of sheer exhaustion.

They guys were watching some sporting event while Mattie entertained Elijah. Kimberla and Bella were trying to get Carlisle to color princesses and Emmett, Edward, and Jasper were betting the outcome of the game.

"We've been working with Eli on saying stuff, but he's so quiet. And yesterday, the master bathroom was covered with toothpaste, so that was quite a mess." We laughed.

"Oh, Kimberla sent my sister a text message, completely gibberish. Her response was 'Hiya, Kimmie.' And I was like, I have to hide my phone better." Alice laughed.

"Buy her a fake one." I suggest.

"She doesn't like them because the screens don't change pictures. It's not the thrill of pressing a button it's seeing the number appear on screen because you pressed something." Alice shrugged.

"She hasn't called China yet!" Bella laughed.

"No, not yet." Alice agreed.

"Bella, Rose is trying to conceive again." Esme offered as a new topic.

"Oh, really? What's it gonna be, triplets?"

"God, I hope not. No more then, four to six kids." I smiled innocently.

"I'd like multiples." Alice thought. "It's drive Jazz nuts, though. He's the kind of guy who needs sleep."

"Well, I'm okay with twenty or so grand kiddies." Esme shrugged. "Why don't you guys set the table and then get the guys. It looks like supper is ready to go."

We chattered while setting the table with cups and plates. The kids all had sippy cups with milk and the adults had pop. I've stayed away from alcohol for the most part. The result of the last time was unprotected sex and twins.

As we ate out dinner, we conversed.

"What's up at Cullen number three's house?" Esme asked Edward.

"Sleep." Edward joked. "Clean up toothpaste, we painted Eli's room a new color because he took a sharpie and colored one wall black."

"Bad Eli!" we chorused. Eli, not knowing the difference, smiled like we had complimented him.

"Cullen number two?" we arrange the Cullens by marriage. Bella and Edward where number three, we were two, and Alice was one. Esme and Carlisle are just Grandma and Grandpa.

"Went to the zoo and calling the stork." Emmett joked.

"Another one?" Jasper smiled.

"Shooting for ten." Emmett joked.

We laughed, "Maybe you are, but I am not."

"Oh, come on, you could be Rose and Em plus ten!" Alice laughed.

"Momma, what's the stork?" Lily asked.

"It's a bird."

"Birds don't have telephones!" Lily said.

We laughed. "Emmett was a boy scout, I'm sure he knows some bird calls." Esme teased.

"Mom." Emmett whined. Esme beamed. She loved being called 'mom'.

My cell phone choose that minute to go off. I set my fork down and stood up. "I'll be right back."

I didn't recognize the number at first. I flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

"Is this Rosalie Cullen?"

"Yeah." I said slowly.

"Sorry to interrupt your family dinner." the male voice said. Was he stalking me? "It's Chief Landon, from down at the office. Emmett mentioned visiting the family. This is important."

My blood ran cold. "I can talk." I permitted.

"We found your Uncle, Rodney Hale, in his house this morning, dead." He paused. "I'm very sorry."

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N — Aren't they just the cutest little family? I adore the Cullens. On the down side, both Rosalie's only remaining family is dead. Her parents died in a terrible shooting at a bank and now, both her Aunt and Uncle died because of Alcohol.

Depressing.

Oh, well. :(

Here is some stats about this chapter:

Characters – 16,683

Words – 3,653

Review?

Please?

Remember, visit my blog to see some pictures of the kids and other things. There's a link to that on my profile, please, please visit it! :P

Well, that's it. :P

My favorite lines in this chapter are ~~~

"Birds don't have telephones!" – Lily

"Shooting for ten." – Emmett

"Don't multi-task, you'll hurt yourself." – Edward

One minute, it's lullabies. The next minute, its Star Wars and Power Rangers and weapons. – Rosalie

"Vroom! No Barbie stuff, Lily. Barbie's stupid." – Mattie

What are your favorites? PM me for suggestions and other stuff, I need cute fluffy things to lead up to Rosalie's first doctor appointment!

______________________________________________________________________________

**Replies to Anon. Reviews**

sparkleyangel – Glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one too!

_Thanks to – twighlighter26, sparklyangel, Agriad, AmberlynotKimberly, Uxiegirl, and Sunset on Heartache for reviewing!! You guys rock my socks!_


	3. Bad Stuff Happens in Threes

**The Innocence of Children**

**A/N – **Sorry so much for not updating since like, 2009. I took a mini vacation from the world of Fanfic.

**Summary – **Children are innocent, and Rosalie and Emmett are learning new things each day. Things keep popping up and suddenly, life doesn't look so easy any more. Lily and Mattie are teaching their parent's some new tricks.

**Random Point of Interest – **Kellan is a boy name while Kellen is a girl name.

**Disclaimer —** Bite me, I don't own Twilight.

**3. Bad Stuff Happens in Threes**

_Life lives, life dies. Life laughs, life cries. Life gives up and life tries. But life looks different through everyone's eyes._

**Unknown **

Rosalie's POV

"What?" I whispered into the phone piece, not caring if he heard me or not.

"I'm very sorry." He repeated. "We believe that he consumed a large amount of alcohol, passed out, and just didn't wake up." Anger flashed through me. I always told him that his drinking habits would kill him. Looks like he didn't listen.

"You mean alcohol poisoning?" I asked, in a cold tone.

"Possibly, most likely. We won't know until the autopsy comes back"

"Oh. Well. Thank you." I guess. "Goodbye."

"Bye." I closed the phone mechanically.

Why do these things always happen to me? This will be my third funeral in four years. Most people don't go to a lot of funerals. Not me. Death loves to tease me.

I sank down in my chair at the table softly. "Who was that?" Alice asked curiously. I sighed. I didn't want to admit it out loud. That just makes it too real. I was angry too, and I didn't want to yell in front of the kids.

"Chief Landon. My Uncle just died." I busied my hands by straightening my fork and spoon. I sipped the soda.

"Oh, Rose. I'm sorry." They all repeated.

I shied away from their concern and sympathy. "It's fine." I repeated, ignoring the sympathetic glances. "I'm not unhappy."

"What happened?" Bella asked lowly. Lily was looking at me funny.

"They think its alcohol poisoning. In which, I don't care." I said firmly.

"Now, Rose. No matter how angry you may seem, losing a family member is not something to take lightly."

"Aunt Rose, where did you fambily member go? Why can't you find him?" Kimberla asked. Her face was covered in the remains of her meal.

"Kimberla, you always make such a mess out of food." Alice said, a defeated look on her face. "I swear, I'll just dress you in a garbage bag when it comes to meals. That way, your sweater stays half-ways decent."

Kimberla smiled and Esme showed up with a washcloth to clean up the children. Later that evening, Esme cornered me about my feelings. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I always told him to stop drinking, and that it would kill him. He never cared. He told me 'Shut it, blondie' in which made my Aunt growl at him." I sighed. "He was never happy about having me and Justin and Nikki there. They never planned on having kids. Oh, well. Now he's in Heaven with Aunt Tabby." I paused. "Or Hell."

Mattie froze. "Mommy said a bad word!" He shouted. I laughed.

"I was referring to the place where bad people go." I explained.

"Don't make me put you in a time out." Emmett teased.

"Uh oh!" Lily declared.

Mattie ran after the car he pushed and Elijah came toddling after. He didn't make it very far before he tripped and fell, pausing for a second before screaming. Edward beat Bella there. "Alright, Little Man, come on." Elijah buried his face in Edward's shoulder.

I always loved watching Edward "play" daddy. The only time you ever really see emotion come over his face is when he's with Bella and Elijah.

After playing a couple of rounds of Monopoly, having adult conversation time, and watching some useless TV, I could finally escape home. Goodbyes, hugs, kisses, and all that jazz went down, and then Emmett pulled out of the long driveway.

I was angry, but beyond anger came hurt. Never before have I actually stopped and thought about my Aunt and uncle like this before. I used to hate them. But I had never thought about how they saved my life. They took this horrible event in my life, this moment when I lost my parents, and they took three kids in and they spent money on us and….

"Rosalie? We're leaving." I blinked. Emmett was looking at me concerned with a sleeping Lily in his arms.

"Right," I stood up. "Sorry, I guess I spaced out." We finally left after everybody apologized about my uncle and hugged me. The car ride was silent and seemed too short. When we finally arrived, Emmett took care of the kids. I walked into the kitchen and hit caller ID number 9. "Hello?" Nikki answered breathlessly. "Hey, Nik. Listen… Uncle Rodney died."

There was quiet on the other line, and then she said, "We told him the alcohol would get him."

"I don't think he really cared." I replied coolly. We caught up with one another, and we chatted about anything but our uncle's death.

"Rosa?" She said, saying the nickname that I hadn't been called in years. "Are you sad about it?"

I thought about this for awhile. "No." I answered. She dropped the subject, wished me luck on getting pregnant, and then hung up, claiming she was exhausted. Emmett stepped into the room, a guilty look on his face.

"How long were you standing there?" I accused.

"Long enough." He answered, and then he turned his lecturing voice on. "Rose, you really should be a little sad, he was your uncle and your father figure for the latter of your life."

"Em. I'll be sad later; I'm too busy right now."

He let the subject go and we went upstairs to our bedroom. I was laying in the dark when he spoke next. "They say bad things happen in threes. Maybe Miley Cyrus will die."

We laughed.

The funeral was short, and wasn't very ornate. It was easy to get through, but at the same time I was stressed by the whole thing. Lily and Mattie didn't get who my uncle was or why we had to look at his body. The one thing that really kept me calm and organized was Emmett's hand on my arm.

Nikki cried. Justin looked stoic. This was when I realized I was alone. My Grandparents died long ago. I had no parents. My Aunt and Uncle both died. I didn't even have cousins. It was just us.

I suddenly wanted to hug Carlisle and Esme. They _were_ my parent's, as of today. I struggled with accepting that my entire family, my entire past was wiped away.

_Bad things happen in threes…_

I knew Emmett was kidding, but the statement haunted me. What else could I bear to lose? Who would death target? Surely not Emmett or my children.

I couldn't even focus on happiness.

I still managed to function through the whole thing. Emmett seemed to notice I was distant, but that shouldn't surprise me. He had been able to read my mind since day one.

I love him.

Lily and Mattie slept on the way home. "Rose, it'll be okay." Em said at a red light.

I wanted to get the hell out of the dress and crawl into bed. "I know." I insisted. "I'm tired, that's all."

"Still hoping Cyrus will die." He joked.

"Don't joke about that. What if bad things do happen in threes! What if you die?"

"Rosalie, relax. I'll be fine, I'm a careful; always am."

I stayed quiet. The light turned green. Emmett crossed the intersection and I held my breath, waiting for a logging truck to have a brake failure and ram right into us. But nothing happened.

We arrived home and I carried Lily, the lighter of the two upstairs to her room. I walked into our bedroom and striped. My mind was deprived of sleep and various worries have been nagging at my mind for the last twelve hours.

Now that I think about it, there has been plenty of times when someone close to me should have died. We could have gotten in a car accident, for example, when crossing that intersection.

Work, play, Disney on Ice, family get togethers and much more crossed my path in the nect month, then it my birthday.

I'm 25. I complain I'm old but Esme laughs at me and says, "I'm nearly sixty!" I know, it sounds unbelievable. Esme and Carlisle are timeless and still look forty. There was cake and gifts. There was laughs and happiness.

"So, when will you know? If you're pregnant?" Alice asked when we were all alone.

I froze. I realized I could find out now. I had ignored this though. "I don't know, I kinda forgot."

Alice started laughing. "Blonde moment?"

I glared in mock anger.

Later that evening, I pulled out the pregnancy tests that I had bought but didn't really bother to use. I studied the box, the opened one. All I have to do is pee for fifteen seconds. I can manage that, right?

I waited for 30 seconds after that. Then my breath caught. A positive little plus sign shone brightly in the little results window. I set it on the sink, just as Emmett walked in.

"Kids want cupcakes. Told them that you'll help them, being as I cannot bake to save my life. What are you doing?" he looked confused. He walked over, glanced and the plus sign, then picked me up in a strong, strong bear hug. His eyes shone with happiness.

"I told you there's nothing to worry about! No bad things, just good!" He said joyfully.

I laughed happily. He set me down and looked at me, smiling. I stared at him. "Cupcakes sound really good."

I was feeling good. Baby on board, and I had been worried? Relax… I whispered in my mind. I was cooking lunch in the kitchen listening to the kids play in the living room.

The Telephone rang.

I lifted the phone and noticed that it was Esme's number. Panic fluttered in my stomach but I shushed it.

"Hello," I said smoothly.

"Rose… you better get down to the hospital."

"Alice… Wait, what's going on? Hospital?"

What she said next was garbled and I couldn't make it out.

"Alice, I can't hear you!"

"Rose!" Her voice returned garbled, then the call cut off altogether. I swore angrily and I turned off the stove and gathered up the kids.

"Mommy, where are we going?" Lily asked impatiently.

"Please, you guys have to be quiet. Mommy's head hurts." They looked very scared so I assured them that everything was okay, even though I wasn't sure of that myself. I drove like a mad woman to the hospital, all the while trying to call Alice. Finally, once I arrived at the entrance to the hospital, she answered.

"Rosalie, I'm by the front desk." I entered and practically sprinted up to her. She turned and looked at me with a scared look on her face.

"Rose. Carlisle had a heart attack."

_Bad things happen in threes…_

Finally! This took me ages!!

Okay, it's one AM, I'm sleep deprived and I can't breathe out my nose.

Review please??


End file.
